Ceòlas Summer School 2008
Fàilte gu Ceòlas
The Summer School’s approach
Community events programme
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Ceòlas Summer School 2008 received funding from the Scottish Arts Council’s Traditional Music Development Fund. |
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Ceòlas 2008, running from Sunday 6 to Friday 11 July, is a music and dance summer school featuring expert tuition in piping, fiddling, singing, Scotch reels and Quadrilles, step dancing and the Gaelic language.
Set within the Gaelic-speaking community of South Uist Ceòlas 2008 is a unique experience with strong connections to both of the Gaidhealtachds or Gaelic-Speaking areas, of Scotland and Cape Breton. |
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The Schools starts on Monday 7 July at 10am, one of the main advantages of the school lies in its holistic teaching approach, which establishes these interconnections in each individual subject area. |
Each student has a first choice and a second choice subject and they are all encouraged to learn a new discipline and interact with each other. Pipers can learn step dancing and step dancers have the possibility to try some instrumental music.
Another interesting aspect is the Crossover Class: in the afternoon students from all the groups are mixed to produce a performance piece, with all of the elements represented, in preparation of the final show on Friday afternoon.
Ceòlas’s curriculum is centred on five main areas of tuition:
- Traditional Gaelic song mouth music
- Gaelic language and arts
- Ceòl Mòr, the classical music of the Highland pipes
- Ceòl Beag, the instrumental dance music of the Gaidhealtachd
- Historical dance styles of the Western Highlands and Islands, such as reels, quadrilles and Scottish step dance.
At the end of the school day the students can then opt into a series of events that are open to the community.
An attractive Community events programme is designed to appeal to the wider community to participate in the week of celebrating Uist music and culture.
Ceòlas will dedicate the evening of song “Oidhche nan Òran” in memory of Simon MacKenzie, who died in April. Simon was an avid supporter of Ceòlas and had been Master of Ceremonies at the singing concert for the past two years.
The Uist community opens the Ceòlas week with a Grand Welcome night on Sunday 6 July, there will be an ecumenical service in St Peters church followed by a traditional Uist welcome in St Peters Hall.
Some of the evening events will be web-cast and others will be recorded for broadcast for later in the year.
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Visit the Ceòlas website for Community Events Programme or email Ceòlas for more information. | |